I f-ed up my ear trying a raley last week and every time I go now it still bugs me. Anyone use a helmet with the earpads, and if so does it help to keep your eardrum from getting hurt. Has anyone else had this problem, and if so what did you do to keep it from happening. I have been wakeboarding for years and never had a problem before, but now it keeps being a problem.

I have the exact same problem right now. Went to the doc and found out that the only thing wrong was what at first they determined to be swimmers ear. Gave me some drops, but then it turned into an ear infection. I am now on something called zpac(short name) for 5 days to clear it up. Never had an ear infection before. Very painful though. The whole area around the ear and down in the channel is affected. Don't know for sure, but that might be what you have if you've never hurt it before.

i went to the doc yesterday to find out i have an inner AND outer ear infection. most likely due to a crash or 2 on the wakeboard. i went with the "ignore it and it will go away" approach for a few weeks, turns out that was a bad idea

I got a pair of earplugs from Doc's Pro Plugs and they are awesome. You can get them so they are "vented", which means there is a hole in them that allows sound in but not water. I highly recommend them and they only cost around $8. They will save the ruptured ear drums and also the build up of swimmers/surfers ear. They are light and clear so you can't even tell you are wearing them. Save yourself some pain and lots of visits to the doc.

This spring I got my first case of swimmers ear. Like Randy, it went from a slight pain the day or two after to a full blown infection in and around the opening and down into the canal. The first time it happened, I went on antibiotics and that cured it. It's occured twice more. It's a bacterial infecition and may or may not go away fully.

I used some ear drying drops for swimmers ear, and it helped, but I still got some pain. It usually takes a day or two after the weekend riding to show up and it can hurt like bloody hell.

I am gonna go with the Pro Plugs from now on. They fit pretty tight and the only cure for swimmers ear is dry ears.

If you have a blown eardrum, that's a completely different deal and you need to see a doc and definately don't put any drops in your ears until you see one.